Notes on Phlebotomus, with Descriptions of New Species—Part I

Abstract

In making a critical examination of the palpi of the various species of phlebotomus described in this paper, I have found that the third* segment of the palpi in all of them is provided with a compound group of minute and curiously modified spines. In P. minutus (fig. 1c) they are somewhat squamiform and the pedicel is, so far as I can ascertain, extremely short; in P. papatasii (fig. 1d) they are distinctly spathuliform, with the pedicel long and strongly curved. In P. squamipleuris (fig. 1i) the spines are similar to those found in P. papatasii, but they appear to be more gradually dilated distally and have relatively shorter pedicels. These organs are common to both sexes and are probably sensory in function; but they are so easily deciduous that they can rarely be seen, though the position occupied by them is generally indicated by a compound group of circular cicatrices clearly showing the point of attachment of the spines with the integument.